Mike Dodd reflects on childhood collecting, the evolution of cards, and the big changes affecting collectors young and old. If only your mother hadn't tossed all your cards...
Curator of Collections, Card Cyber Museum
When Sy Berger sat on his couch in Hempstead, N.Y., designing the 1952 Topps baseball card set, he decided to play it safe with the information on the back. At the top of the column for the player's statistics from the previous season, he wrote "past year" instead of 1951. "We didn't know if these things would sell. We were neophytes," he recalls. "We put 'year' so if they didn't sell, maybe we could sell them the next year." If only Berger knew. The set became the prototype for today's cards, and the little chewing gum company from Brooklyn, N.Y., has sold billions of them since.
Every so often I like to dig out my old collection of hockey cards and take a look at what I spent so much time doing as a youngster.
I haven't seriously collected hockey cards since 1991, but I will occasionally pick up a few when something catches my eye.
It is during these "dog days of summer" when I long for that elusive 'hockey fix' that I find myself rummaging through the boxes under my stairs looking for a long-forgotten collectible.
Counterfeit baseball cards have been around for decades, but with prices for vintage material on sometimes lofty ground, it's best to understand what's real and what isn't before you make a major purchase.
Baseball cards have been manufactured since the 1800's and have touched the hearts of millions of collecting enthusiasts young and old.
Pull together tips and pointers on putting together a quality rookie card collection.
Where do you start while staring into the eyes of countless manufacturing brand options at your local card store?
